What is this mind?
No more than
conditioned name-and-form.
And the feeling of impressions
dancing before my eyes.
In one gust of wind
the last leaf of autumn falls.
With that my mind
insists on a new view.
Gone is the mirror full of desire.
Leaving just the trees.
With wisdom to be.

As I wander.
I turn my thoughts
into words.
The clouds above me
embrace the ups
and downs of life.
The streets in front of me.
Reflecting life as it is.
And tonight, I will have
a thousand words to write.
What else do I know!

Branches broken from
the autumn storm.
Only heard in a few places.
Irritated by the sound.
I step outside.
The satin rice fields
look different.
Showing the rise
and fall of everything.

It was in a dream.
A way of escape.
I sit down watching
the clouds come and go.
In front of me the
emptiness of all things.
No desire, no attachment.
Just a world that remains
itself – an ancient way.

In the blue sky
an autumn magpie cries.
Welling up from perfect silence.
A cry that cannot
be rendered into speech.
I can provide no
more explanation than this.

Leaves fall.
All beyond thinking,
beyond speaking.
Like dew and lightning,
it just happens.
Until I am safely dead.
I will accept what is.
As for the rest……
I will do what I can.
That’s the answer.

Unclasped like jewels.
I let go of desire.
That hard rock of pain.
An oar in my eye for so long.

With unconditional breath.
My tasks lie in the moment.
What I fear is no more
than branches moving in the wind.

It is in the silence
that everything is let go.
When the mind is in an empty place.
Then, all that I need is there.

Outside
the sound of rain.
Inside
I saved a spider.
Its fate was in my hands.
Such a responsibility.
Then, I drunk a cup of coffee.
Watching the spider
make a new home.
A starting point, I thought.
To the best day, so far.

I watch the leaves fall
by ones and twos.
And stare at knots
in the sky.

Saying to myself
“This is how it is”.

No miracles occurred.
There was no luck.
In this moment….. the
nearest thing to being alive.

Each day,
nothing particular.

Not the best,
not the worst.

Nobody magnificent,
nobody terrible.

Nothing lost,
nothing gained.

Just an ordinary
person’s affairs.

Leaving life
and death alone.

As if there
is nothing more.